Peyronie's Hope & Despair: Penis Implants Now, or Hope for Something Better Down the Road?

I'm in a quandary.  I can't seem to commit to the idea of getting penis implants.  I got over the fear of the surgery (although it is done under general anesthesia, which has its own problems), since all the work is done through a small incision in the bottom of the scrotum.  The idea of being able to have an erection whenever I want one is alluring, too, and once the surgery is paid for there might not be the constant expense of ED drugs.  But once made, it's a permanent decision to always have implants, which, since the current inflatable models last only ten to fifteen years, might mean additional surgeries to replace them (although the manufacturer supposedly warrants them for life, so replacements wouldn't cost anything).

On the other hand, I read a .pdf download from Medispec.com, the manufacturer of the ED1000 (see post).  It was a digest of all the testing & research regarding Low Intensity Shock Wave Therapy (which is what the ED1000 is) and it also included some research regarding High Intensity Therapy for Peyronie's using a lithotripsy device to try to break up the scar tissue that causes it, the results of which have been mixed but look rather promising.  If I get implants now,  the ED1000 won't be available to me when it finally gets approved for use in the USA, so it seems to make sense to wait, for a while, at least.

It's frustrating, though, because my wife and I have only had actual intercourse twice in the last two months I've had Peyronie's, and it has been extremely awkward, although we did have some success with a doggie-style arrangement where she kneeled on the bed while I stood up on the floor, but it certainly isn't like it used to be.  Sigh.....  (Years later I have tried shock-wave therapy and finally had the implant surgery.  See later posts.)

Peyronie's Disease: WTF Else is Gonna Happen???

About 8 to 10 weeks ago (see previous post).  I woke with one of my usual only moderately hard morning erections, and the damn thing was curved all the way up to touch my belly.  I finally got an appointment with my urologist in mid-February, and he detected a definite plaque (scar tissue) inside the ol' weenie that is causing it to curve.  He referred me to a urologist specializing in Peyronie's Disease. That doc said he did not believe the Edex had caused it, that I probably injured my member during sex at some point (and I do remember being bent bent double a time or two when I slipped out unexpectedly.  The injury supposedly happens usually when you are doing it in a woman-on-top position).

Anyway, this doc deals with Xiaflex, a new collagenase drug that is injected into the plaque to cause a break in it so the penis can be stretched to separate the parts of the plaque so it no longer "tethers" the penis.  He said, however, that at best it generally improves the curvature by only 33%, and that would not be much help to me, and people who already have ED are not good candidates for Xiaflex because it can make the ED worse.  Then, too, Xiaflex currently costs a whoppin' $3300.00 per vial, with as many as 8 vials sometimes necessary to complete the treatment!  Not sure if insurance would cover any of that, since the drug is sort of experimental.

His bottom line recommendation, if I cannot live with the curvature, is to get penile implants.  (It's a little too much for me to think about right now, so you'll just have to Google penile implants.) My Peyronie's is not stable yet, so he has me taking a couple of prescription drugs to mitigate it as much as possible until it does go from acute to chronic.  Supposedly, 10 to 12% of patients improve on their own, about 40% get worse, and the remaining bunch see no change at all.

Oh, joy....

Penile Curvature- WTH?

So I dunno if it was the bargain basement penis pump or the Edex, but my member has recently developed an upward curve to it.  She had trouble getting it inserted at first, but once in, we didn't have any problems.  I haven't been able to test it again because She fell and was injured a while back and has not completely healed yet, thus She doesn't have much interest in doin' the do, although she has cheerfully given me fellatio a couple times in the last two weeks-- I think she's still staving off the beast because a full Ironman session takes so much time and effort.  Anyway, I always had a little sideways curve due to unequal filling when the Little Man got excited (the 2nd wife used to call me "J-Man" because it would look like the letter J until it began to become fully erect) but this is definitely different.  I googled Peyronie's Disease, but I can't feel any sort of fibrous tissue in there when I palpate it myself.... I dunno, I've stopped using the pump for now.  Just wish I could use the Edex again to see what's going to happen.

Penis Pumps- Hmmmm....

My urologist had mentioned that I might want to try to use one of those things, but I was a little leery.  It seemed a little creepy and artificial (as opposed to injecting yourself with penis-expanding drugs?), but my Edex injections are getting so danged expensive (they went up $15 on a four-dose supply, to $230) that I reconsidered the ole' pumps, especially since they are reusable and might be covered by my insurance.  I checked on the Pos-T-Vac, widely advertised on TV, which is a medical grade device.  A basic system costs about $150, although I saw a different brand medical-grade device advertised on the CVS website for $119.  Not sure I wanted to make that investment, I ordered the Pumpworx Beginners kit, which is $18 plus shipping from CVS, and is classified as a "novelty device".

I've experimented with it 3 times, with less than stellar results, although I can see where the medical-grade pumps probably work better.  The first time, I couldn't get the danged thing to seal very well at the bottom, so when I started to build up any suction it started to "whee" like when you slowly let the air out of a balloon.  The second and third times I used it in the shower after applying hair conditioner to Little Man's shaft, and either the wetness or the conditioner sealed it well.  I could only get a certain amount of suction, however, before the squeeze bulb would stay squeezed and could not be re-inflated to be pumped again (a safety feature?  I dunno).  I did get some impressive size going, but even after releasing the vacuum it was then difficult to get the dang thing off me!  (It sounded like a champagne cork popping when it finally came out.)  Before I could get the cock ring on to keep it engorged, the erection had already started going away.  I know the Pos T Vac has a way to roll the cock ring onto the bottom of the pump cylinder so you can just roll it off the pump onto your shaft, so that might be another advantage to the medical-grade pumps.  So far, though, I have yet to be able to achieve a sufficient erection for penetration, although it worked well as a masturbatory aid (I know, I know, EWWW!  Hey, everybody poops and just about everyone masturbates, so get over it!)  The results have been intriguing, though, so I may try to get the Doc to prescribe one of the "good" ones.

UPDATE, 08/04/2014:  I went ahead and ordered a Pos-T-Vac from Walgreen's....  It definitely works better than the novelty pump, but I still haven't quite gotten the little fella all the way hard, yet, what with different size penis rings and pressure levels to try.  I did try using the new pump with a 100mg Stendra tablet, and that looks promising. We'll see....

UPDATE, 10/30/2014:  I had trouble getting the Pos T Vac to seal because I'm kinda hairy down there (the Little Woman jokes I should braid it) so I used clippers and some scissors and cut it very short but not shaved.  The thing did work better, but I still can't can't seem to generate enough suction to get it hard enough for penetration (although it makes hand and blow jobs more interesting).  It's funny how the cheap novelty pump seems to pull the little guy out to full length, whereas the Pos T Vac plumps him up more.  I had him big around enough that when I pulled off the pump to check him I couldn't get him back in the cylinder afterwards, but he still DIDN'T get hard.  Sheesh....

UPDATE, 01/20/2015:  I've given up on the Pos-T-Vac because I just can't keep shaving down there, and the results were only a little better than the cheapo pump.  NOTE:  If you buy a Pos-T-Vac, get one with either the squeeze handle or the electric pump.  The push-down pump requires you to push so hard that it actually made my abdoment hurt, after a while.  I've been using the cheapo in the shower almost every day in the hopes that it might help my Peyronie's disease (see later post, "Using Penis-Enlargement Devices to Treat Peyronie's?"), and it kind of feels good to have the little man enlarged even if he ain't hard.  Sigh....

With Edex, I am a victim of my own success....

After our last wild (for us) night that I detailed in my previous post, which occurred on a Friday, I tried to tactfully suggest we go again on Sunday night, because the only thing about great sex is that it just makes you crave more of it!  But the wife's response was "Oh no, I would have to work up to that!" meaning she needed a rest before enduring THAT again....  I didn't know whether to be proud that I wore her out, or depressed that she found it so tiring to be intimate with me.  The thing about Edex is that it is so expensive (with my crappy health insurance, it costs $205 for 4 doses) along with he fact that when you have ED it just... feels... so... damn'...GOOD to be rock hard again that you want to take advantage of its effects while they last, both of which led to the amazing two-fer of that Friday.  

The aftermath of that night led to another short dry spell of two weeks, although on that second Friday when we usually get busy, we were lying in bed when The Little Woman began playing with my equipment and brought it to Chubby Status, which is about the best I can achieve without the help of chemistry.  She started diddling her fingers along the underside of my shaft, and bore in on that sensitive part about two inches down from the head, and she did it so intensely that I soon exploded all over myself.  She chuckled, apparently taking a kind of weird (to me) satisfaction in the copious result of her handiwork.  I was much appreciative and we were both tired, so we went to sleep without doing the do.  Then again on the next Monday she tried the same thing again, but then began some oral techniques which put me into orbit, although again she switched to manual mode at the last so she could observe the results.  I was again amazed and delighted, but I was beginning to get the impression that by doing these things she was attempting to keep The Monster at bay, and to be honest, she was succeeding, really!

Then it came to be Friday again, and after a sumptuous meal and quite a bit of wine, She said rather unceremoniously "Let's go to bed, and bring your stuff."  Wow!  With trembling hands I hurriedly readied the dose and injected it.  As I've said before, Edex takes a while to work, but it seemed that as we fooled around I was throbbing with anticipation in no time, but ever the dutiful lover, I kept on with the preliminaries until suddenly she pushed me onto my back and mounted me.  She rode me furiously for less than a minute before she did her little "Unngh!" thing, which is usually my cue to let go, but it had been so long and I was so IN THE ZONE, that stable plateau period where it feels so good you don't want it to end, that I couldn't seem to get out of it.  Now, my sexual performance has varied widely since even back before ED was a problem for me, but I've noticed and read about how it sometimes becomes more difficult to climax as you get older.  That, however, did not seem to be the problem this time:  it was just so...damn'... GOOD that I didn't want to stop, and eventually She began to get tired.  I offered to assume top position, but she acted as if she didn't hear me, actually getting kind of angry, chanting "Come on!" as she thrust back and forth.  She finally seemed to make a supreme "I'll show YOU!" effort, and thrusted so hard and so rapidly it drove me off the plateau and into the abyss.  Orgasms in real life seldom approach earth-shaking for me, but by golly this one had me shaking for what seemed like an outrageous amount of time.  I was spent!

Always the passive-aggressive one, she said "I'm sorry I didn't excite you enough to come right away..."  to which I replied "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" along with some superlatives about her beauty and her performance, all of which were true, mind you.  That honest adoration on my part seemed to take the edge off her, somewhat, and when she lifted off me and I was drenched by a deluge of our combined juices, she again let out that weird little chuckle of satisfaction and it seemed that all was right with the World.  We cleaned up (it took me a LOT longer than it did her) and then came back to bed, but when I got there she was already fast asleep.  Looking at her lying there brought my Little Big Man almost all the way back to attention, but after playing around with it a bit I found that I was too tired to make the effort to work it through to completion. I was hit by a thunderbolt of amazement that I, too, would have to "work up to doing that again"!  Sheesh!

Edex Performance Becoming More Consistent.

The Little Woman and I had another dry spell, albeit a shorter one of about two weeks, but after which her performance improved with the pent-up passion.  My performance, not so much:  She rode me furiously, and though I hung on longer than last time I still erupted at about the 4-minute mark.  Afterward she seemed to be energized, heading back out to the living room to watch TV while I in typical man fashion quickly fell asleep.  I read somewhere that there is an actual physiological basis for this, that some endorphin or hormone or something is released in the man's system after sex that makes him sleepy, probably so the ancient cave woman could get the hell away afterward!

I was awakened sometime later by Her coming back to bed.  I don't know how much later it was, but when she pushed up against me to spoon, my Little Man sprang to life.  I dunno what came over me, but I didn't try to seduce her with sweet talk, I didn't ask permission, I just attacked her, burying my face in her cleavage while I climbed on top.  She didn't resist or protest, just wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hung on for what turned out to be a good long motorboating and pony ride.  I think maybe, for once, she really enjoyed being taken.  Anyway, I must have been at the limit of Edex' efficacy because as soon as I expended myself, the Little Man collapsed,  exhausted.  And you know what?  This time we both instantly fell asleep. 

My Edex Experience Continues to Be Unpredictable....

Well there was a long dry spell owing to a big fight my wife and I had, along with other factors, part of which includes the lack of spontaneity involved with the use of Edex.  It's so expensive on my crappy health insurance that I generally wait until She commits to us doing the do before going ahead with the injection. Just the other night, though, it had been almost a month since we'd last had actual intercourse (although, trouper that she is, she gave me a wonderful blow/hand job just last week after we made up), so I knew from her attitude and demeanor she'd be ready about any time now....  She seems to be about the only woman who likes morning sex.  I think it's because we can immediately get cleaned up afterward and begin our day.  No matter how good/bad/mediocre the sex has been, she almost always gets up in a good mood, humming away while she fixes breakfast.  Ah, what a lovely girl she is... but I digress:

I ambushed her.  I got up first, zapped Little Willy with the Edex and returned to bed.  It took a good 15 to 20 minutes to take effect, but hallelujah when it did!  I waited awhile for her to wake up, playing with the wood every so often to keep it firm.  Eventually, however, I found myself becoming too aroused, as the pre-cum began to flow quite a bit.  I finally stirred around in the bed enough to get her half-awake, then rolled my back to her.  As I'd hoped, she took up the spoon position behind me and, as she does quite often, she kind of sleepily felt me up, playing with my butt, rubbing my belly, etc until her hand inadvertently dropped to my nether region, and whoa! she startled fully awake at finding the diamond-cutter waiting for her.  She seems to be continually fascinated by the wood that Edex produces, and she rolled me onto my back and went down on me for a bit, then rested her head on my belly while she played with her toy.  She seemed to be feeling it up and down out of curiosity rather than trying to give me pleasure, several times squeezing it rather hard between thumb and fore finger as if testing its firmness, etc.  It didn't bother me as I was in freakin' HEAVEN.  I couldn't help but moan.  She eventually mounted me and tried to move as slowly as possible, but the dry spell and and all the unusual foreplay had me at a fever pitch and I was GONE in no-time... damn.

Now the clinical aspect of the Edex:  After exploding with the rolling climax produced by expelling all the backed-up love juice, Willy softened up quite a bit, and seeing this, the Lilttle Woman, her mission accomplished, rolled over and went back to sleep.  We spooned, but uncharacteristically for a man, I was unable to sleep afterward with her beautiful body pressed up against me. Willy soon (5 to 10 minutes) became rock hard and ready to party again, but dammit, I didn't dare try a second ambush.  Thanks for the torture, Edex!